Portraits of the Popes as Young Men

In the next few weeks, the cardinals of the Catholic Church will prepare for a conclave that will transform one of them into a pope. Early talk encompasses a wide range of candidates, from Milan and Ghana to New York and Argentina, challenging the traditional picture of the pope. But how much of that image is a retrospective one, shaped by the one we already have of the pope in his ceremonial guise? Are we so sure we know what any future pope looks like? Here are the last half-dozen, photographed before they ascended—as a child, a young soldier, a priest shaving in the outdoors.

Giovanni Battista Montini, the future Pope Paul VI, as a lieutenant in the First World War (far left), with his two brothers, Saverio and Giuseppe. Keystone/Getty.